Lyra Titan i on Basis Vector 4 experience?

I have a Titan on a Vector 3, a friend has one on a Vector 4 and the combination works very well. I talked to someone in the know a few years back (I think it was A.J. Conti of Vector) and he said that the Titan transfers a tremendous amount of vibrational energy to the tonearm. The Vector is designed to handle that type of cartridge by dissipating such energy instead of reflecting it back to the headshell and the cartridge.

All that said, the Titan works well in a number of tonearms. I've heard it in the latest Graham, as well as in an SME arm. The basic requirement of this cartridge for optimum performance is a very rigid arm/bearing that will allow the vibrational energy to be transferred to the turntable plinth or armboard. A.J. Conti of Vector hates cantilevered armboards for that reason-- they are not rigid and so they start to vibrate like a diving springboard from such energy.

Sirspeedy,

The amount of damping fluid in the Vector is very important. I leave the term "critical" for the 2.2 and to give an idea of how I think the difference between the two arms is in regard to this. The idea with the Vector is to add enough fluid to the trough to tighten the base. Too little and the bass becomes muddy. Too much and you start to squash HF and dynamics. This is no different than the 2.2. But I think the 2.2 is much more sensitive. As you posted a while back, even an amount the size of the head of a pin can adversely effect the performance on the 2.2. With the Vector I find that I can stay to about 1/2 cc of silicon and get the level right. In short I don't find the fluid level to be as touchy as with the Vector, but it is certainly very important.

I would say that the micrometer option for VTA measuring does make minute VTA changes easier than not having it. As A.J. says, it is not a VTA adjuster, it is just a way to measure. It should not be touching the plinth while the stylus is playing.

Larryi,

that is exactly what I and others have found about the Vector. It can handle those cartridges that transmit a lot of energy into the arm. I think this is another reason why the 2.2 did not perform as well for me as the Vector. I have not calculated it, but the PSI value at the pivot bearing must be enormous. Another point that the Vector has over the 2.2 is the horizontal stabilization of that little bearing controlling azimuth.

Yes, I know A.J. doesn't like cantilevered armboards, on the fly VTA, and non-suspended tables. Just to name a few things. However, there are examples of such implementations that address his concerns and work extremely well.

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your feedback to this thread.

All Lyra cartridges pump a great deal of energy into the tonearm. It's even stated on the literature that come with the Cartridges. I believe this is one of the reasons that some Arms don't match well with the Lyra's. If there is one thing the Vector does really well, it is dissipating a great deal of that energy and keeping it away from getting back into the cartridge.

This was very evident when I installed my Vector to replace my previous arm. Although it was a good performer, the Skala was a difficult cartridge to control. The interesting thing is I didn't know how difficult it was until I put this arm on the table.

I'm not sure I'll get the Titan without listening to it in my system first, but it's on my very short list that has a few others I will get the chance to listen to in my system.

Thanks,
Dre

I have tried several cartridges with the Vector and my favorite is the ZYX low output copper coils. Just killer on the Vector.